SEO Tools and Resources

Today, we’re exploring Google Ads brand settings, specifically brand inclusion and brand exclusion for Search and Performance Max. We’ll cover: What is Brand Inclusion in Google Ads? When should you use Brand Inclusion for Search? What is Brand Exclusion in Google Ads? When should you use Brand Exclusion? How to create and manage brand lists for brand settings Should you use Brand Settings in Google Ads? What is Brand Inclusion in Google Ads? Brand inclusion is a setting that restricts your Search campaign to only show ads on searches for specific brands. In fact, it used to be called “brand restriction.” You can include your own brand…

Many assume LinkedIn Ads is an easy-to-use platform: just set your budget, pick your audience, and let the leads roll in. But in reality, small mistakes can add up fast, costing your organization thousands with little to show for it. This article breaks down five of the most common LinkedIn Ads mistakes – from targeting missteps to overlooked settings – and how to fix them. 1. Using age as a targeting criterion You probably don’t remember this, but when you created your LinkedIn profile, you were never asked for your age or birth year. That means LinkedIn has no direct way of knowing how old you are (which, honestly, I don’t mind). Instead, it make…

Google will now associate your booking links it finds in your Google Business Profiles automatically with your Google Local Service Ads. And when a searcher fills out that booking link, that will be charged to your ads account as Google would charge you for a phone call or message within Local Service Ads. What is changed. Google said that starting yesterday, February 25, 2025, if Google detects a booking link associated with your Google Business Profiles, Google will start showing those booking links on your Local Service Ads. Google said you will be charged for those bookings like you would be charged for calls or messages through Local Service Ads. Why this…

When most businesses start an SEO program, their primary goal is growth – more organic traffic, higher rankings, and increased revenue. But in today’s search landscape, maintaining your visibility is just as important. With the rise of AI-driven search, AI Overviews, and zero-click results, organic growth is harder to achieve. Nearly 60% of Google searches end without a click – so where will future growth come from? The reality is that without ongoing SEO efforts, organic traffic will decline. To survive, businesses must see SEO not just as a growth engine, but as a way to protect and maintain their existing organic visibility. This article make…

Webpages are significantly harmed when excluded from Google’s AI Overviews, but benefit when included in AI Overviews. That’s according to a new study by Terakeet, a company that focuses on brand management for global brands. AI Overviews benefits. Webpages featured in Google’s AI Overviews benefit from increased traffic, regardless of their original ranking. Of note: Top-ranked (transactional queries): Webpages included in AI Overview had 3.2x as many clicks as pages that were excluded. Lower-ranked (informational queries): Webpages appearing in AI Overviews had 2x as many clicks compared to webpages that appeared on a SERP with no AI Overviews. Lower-rank…

Understanding the difference between search bots and scrapers is crucial for SEO. Website crawlers fall into two categories: First-party bots, which you use to audit and optimize your own site. Third-party bots, which crawl your site externally – sometimes to index your content (like Googlebot) and other times to extract data (like competitor scrapers). This guide breaks down first-party crawlers that can improve your site’s technical SEO and third-party bots, exploring their impact and how to manage them effectively. First-party crawlers: Mining insights from your own website Crawlers can help you identify ways to improve your technical SEO. …

Budgeting for paid ad campaigns has long been a static process – set a monthly budget, monitor spending, and adjust incrementally as needed. This method works for industries with stable demand and predictable conversion rates but falls short in dynamic, competitive markets. Still, static budgets aren’t obsolete. In industries with long sales cycles, consistent conversion trends, or strict financial planning – like B2B SaaS and healthcare – planned budgets remain essential. The key isn’t choosing between static and dynamic budgeting; it’s knowing when and how to adjust PPC spend using data-driven signals. The role of Smart Bidding and Performance Max in budge…

There are numerous reports that the Google Search Console API is delayed and not showing data sooner than this past Thursday, February 20th. If you use this API for your own tools, or bring in this data through Looker Studio reports, Big Query or other tools, your reports may be delayed. More details. The delays started around last Wednesday and some are now saying some data for Thursday is slowly coming in. However, generally, data is as recent as today through the Search Console API. The web interface is not impacted, so you can get data from going to Google Search Console directly. Some are saying data for Thursday is now coming in, but others are not sure…

If you feel like you’re being pulled in different directions with your SEO program, you aren’t alone. How do you know where to focus first for the most impact? And when that’s done, what do you do next? It can be challenging to decide which SEO tasks to prioritize because they all impact the end user in some way – but some more than others. This is where discernment comes into play. This article will help you build a path to get your SEO program organized from point A to point B and figure out how to prioritize tasks to get ROI quicker. Frameworks for identifying high-impact SEO opportunities When every SEO task feels urgent, knowing where to focus fi…

Chegg, the publicly traded education technology company, has sued Google over its AI Overviews, claiming they have hurt its traffic and revenue. The company said that AI Overviews is “materially impacting our acquisitions, revenue, and employees.” What Chegg said. Chegg wrote: Second, we announced the filing of a complaint against Google LLC and Alphabet Inc. These two actions are connected, as we would not need to review strategic alternatives if Google hadn’t launched AI Overviews, or AIO, retaining traffic that historically had come to Chegg, materially impacting our acquisitions, revenue, and employees. Chegg has a superior product for education, as evident b…

Hundreds of the most advanced, experienced, and passionate search marketers on the planet are heading to Boston this June 11-13 for the ultimate summer camp for search marketers: SMX Advanced is back in-person, and this is your chance to unlock actionable tactics, intimate networking, and the unmatched energy of a live event. Designed by advanced search marketers, for advanced search marketers, SMX Advanced delivers expert-level training you won’t find anywhere else. This is your chance to connect face-to-face with the sharpest minds in the industry, validate your ongoing initiatives and instincts, and geek out with your search community IRL. It’s summer camp for sea…

Microsoft is testing a new version of Bing named Copilot Search, where it uses Copilot AI to provide a different style of search results. It looks different from the main Bing Search, it looks different from Copilot and it looks different from the Bing generative search experience. More details. The folks over at Windows Latests reported, “Microsoft is testing a new feature on Bing called “AI Search,” which replaces blue links with AI-summarized answers. Sources tell me it’s part of Microsoft’s efforts to bridge the gap between “traditional search” and “Copilot answers” to take on ChatGPT. However, the company does not plan to make “AI search” the default search mode.…

As privacy regulations evolve and consumer expectations shift, marketers face a growing challenge: delivering personalized experiences while respecting data privacy. How can you navigate this changing landscape without sacrificing engagement? Join MarTech.org’s upcoming webinar, Balancing Personalization and Privacy, to explore best practices for responsibly collecting and managing first-party data, building trust with privacy-conscious consumers, and simplifying data integration across large organizations. Our expert speaker will also address key industry challenges, from handling highly regulated sectors to adapting to opt-out technologies like Apple’s Do Not Tr…

X launched two new features to help advertisers automate ad creation and analyze real-time ad campaign performance. The new features – Prefill with Grok and Analyze Campaign with Grok – are (as the names imply) powered by Grok, X’s AI assistant. Prefill with Grok. Enter your website URL and Grok will generate ad copy, imagery, and a call-to-action headline. You can tweak as needed. Here’s what it looks like: Analyze Campaign with Grok. Grok will analyze campaign data and offer insights and recommendations to optimize targeting and creative strategy. What’s next. The rollout, which began Feb. 21, will continue in phases to advertisers. Why we care. This…

Measuring marketing effectiveness is essential for any business investing in multiple channels. Two popular approaches – multi-touch attribution and marketing mix modeling – help marketers understand which strategies drive results. This article tackles the key differences between each attribution method to help you determine which one best fits your business needs. The growing need for smarter marketing attribution With Google’s recent update to its open-source marketing mix model, Meridian, interest in marketing mix analysis and channel modeling has surged. While enterprise brands have long benefited from these insights, smaller businesses running m…

PPC marketing has the power to drive massive traffic and conversions – but one wrong move can drain your budget fast. Many marketers unknowingly make costly mistakes due to hidden platform settings, human error, or poor strategic decisions. Whether it’s setting an unrealistic budget, neglecting creative, misusing AI, or avoiding experimentation, these missteps can lead to wasted ad spend and underwhelming results. The good news? Every PPC mistake has a fix. This article breaks down the four most common PPC mistakes, why they happen, and how to correct them – so you can optimize your campaigns and maximize ROI. Mistake 1: Setting an unrealistic …

Change is the only constant – a truth marketers, especially those in SEO, know all too well. The search landscape is shifting faster than ever, with AI-powered tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini reshaping how people find and interact with information. Yet, despite all the innovation, the core principles of SEO remain as relevant as ever. While AI-enhanced search engines may seem like a revolutionary leap, they still rely on the foundational elements that have driven search success for years. This article explores how time-tested SEO strategies – like site structure, indexing, and keyword optimization – still play a crucial role in an AI-d…

The European Commission is preparing to charge Google with violating the Digital Markets Act (DMA) after the tech giant’s proposed changes to search results failed to satisfy regulators and rivals, according to sources familiar with the matter. The big picture. The EU has been investigating Google since March 2023 over concerns that it favors its own services — like Google Shopping, Flights, and Hotels — over competitors in search results. Google’s recent tweaks to search results were meant to address regulator and industry concerns, but critics argue the changes don’t go far enough. The company has warned that further modifications could remove useful feature…

Google Ads is making a major change to its Search Partner Network by automatically opting all accounts out of serving ads on parked domains, websites that are registered but not actively developed, starting March 19. Details: Google will automatically opt out all advertiser accounts from showing ads on parked domains. The change will roll out gradually over several months. Advertisers can still manually opt in through their account’s Content suitability settings. Why we care. The change will affect all advertisers using Google’s Search Partner Network, potentially reducing ad reach but improving quality of ad placements. Between the lines. While Goo…

A panel of three PPC marketing experts – Greg Finn (Cypress North), Kerri Amodio (Refine Labs), and Menachem Ani (JXT Group) – tackled a fundamental question at SMX Next: Is AI making marketers better? The panel discussed artificial intelligence’s evolving role in marketing, offering insights into its promises and pitfalls. The discussion was nuanced. While AI excels at increasing output quantity, there are serious concerns about quality. The new PPC mindset Finn notably argued that AI is potentially making marketing worse when used as a complete solution rather than a strategic tool: “Is it being able to produce more items and content, things lik…

Even in 2025, as platforms like LinkedIn (not known for creativity) double down on video, many new clients coming to us still haven’t made it part of their organic strategy. So, why should you invest in video? Here are three key reasons: Increased SERP visibility: With a targeted strategy, YouTube videos have a higher chance of appearing prominently in the SERPs, enhancing brand visibility and driving organic traffic. Higher (and longer-lasting) engagement: Video content fosters deeper engagement, encouraging longer view times and generating sustained traffic over months or years. Multi-platform reach: Optimized videos could appear on both Google …

Geotargeting is one of the most powerful tools in a PPC advertiser’s arsenal. Whether you’re running ads for a local business, an international ecommerce brand, or a luxury travel destination, targeting the right locations can significantly impact performance. While most advertisers understand the basics (i.e., choosing countries, cities, or setting a radius), many aren’t fully leveraging the more advanced geotargeting capabilities available in Google Ads today. The ability to target based on intent, real-time conditions, competitor locations, and hyperlocal precision can give campaigns a serious competitive edge. This article explores the full spectrum o…

Google is enhancing Search ads with AI-powered changes that aim to increase asset flexibility, improve performance, and deliver more relevant ad experiences. Driving the news. Here’s what’s changing: Greater flexibility in RSAs: Google’s AI now assembles and serves headlines, descriptions, and assets dynamically to improve performance. In some cases, Google may omit certain content, like descriptions, if doing so leads to better engagement. New ways to use existing assets: Headlines that weren’t used in RSAs can now appear as sitelinks if they’re predicted to boost performance. Up to two RSA headlines may serve in the space previously reserved for si…

Google AI Overview rankings – the webpages cited in the AI-generated answers – are more volatile than Google’s “classic” organic search rankings. Also, within two to three months, 70% of AI Overview rankings changed, according to a new analysis by Authoritas, an ecommerce SEO platform. Ranking volatility. Google’s organic search is volatile and has been for a while. However, AI Overviews appear to be even more volatile, based on this research. AI Overview ranking volatility score: 0.68 (8 weeks), 0.73 (13 weeks) Google Search organic ranking volatility score: 0.49 (8 weeks), 0.55 (13 weeks) Dig deeper. How volatile have Google rankings really been? AI…

LinkedIn introduced two new features aimed at helping marketers optimize their campaigns and prove their impact: the Conversions API (CAPI) and the Revenue Attribution Report (RAR). Driving the news: Conversions API (CAPI). Enables marketers to securely connect first-party online and offline data to LinkedIn. Tracks conversions from website actions, phone sales, and in-person events. Sends marketing data directly from a server to LinkedIn to measure campaign performance. Helps optimize campaigns using LinkedIn’s analytics. Revenue Attribution Report (RAR). Connects CRM data to LinkedIn campaigns for long-term tracking. Extends review periods up…